HARLAN CRICHTON

PHOTOGRAPHY

Growing up in a town that peaked in population and wealth over a century ago, I heard stories of brothers setting each other on fire, of teens buried alive for fun, and of inexplicable events occurring in the surrounding forests. These happenings can still be felt in this place, the accumulated energies swirling through everyone and everything. Hazy recollections of these narratives now serve as inspiration for my photographs. I photograph my family, friends, and strangers and create optical and pyrotechnic phenomena which serve to create a palpable low hum of menace and disquiet emanating from the land and population. Through the images, I suggest a disorienting place with a damaged landscape and humans who are possibly toxic. Many of the materials I use are manufactured as international signs of distress. I have sent several dozens of these signals into the night. No one has ever shown up.

HARLAN CRICHTON was born in Maine in 1990. He was raised in a community of artists in the rural area of Waldo County. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from Maine College of Art in 2012. His work focuses on personal narrative, folklore, fear, and a sense of place.

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